Garment display device



July 27, 1943. c, ow ET AL 2,325,428

GARMENT DI SPLAY DEVI CE Filed July 19, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 27, 1943. c; H, RQWLEY ET AL 2,325,428

GARMENT DISPLAY DEVICE Filed July 19, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 1943- c. H. ROWLEY ET AL 2,325,428

GARMENT DISPLAY DEVICE Filed July 19, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 y 9 c. H. ROWLEY ET AL 2,325,428

GARMENT DISPLAY DEVICE Filed July 19, 194l 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 inter/W14 minimum of room and 3 closely approximate that ,worn upon a person, the

, will enable the garment t be Patented July 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT Y omes GliaMsfirjmsrLAY DEVICE Clarence Rowley'and William P. Wyatt,

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application Jilly 19, ioinsasal No. 403,222

7 Claims.

Th invention relates to forms for displaying garments in flat or semi-flat shape, particularly to that type which is adapted to be insertedwithin a garment, and engaged'with a garment in such a manner as tohold thelatter inan attracgarment may be supported form whichq'will occupy a yet will present the garment in such manner that its appearance will of thegarment when width at the ,waistap- Widthuof (the waist of tive form, so that the and displayed in a proximating that of the the garment when worn, and the hip portions being given a shaping corresponding torthecontours ofthe hips of a person, at the same time that skirt portions of womens garments at their lower parts will be held in'a pleasingpleated or fold relation, and will retain that appearance after initialadjustment upon ourform device, so

as to approximate the set of the skirt when worn,.

It is an important aim-of the-invention to enable the adjustment of a garment in an attractive appearance for flat or semi-flat display, by a person of no specialltaste in such adjustments, so that it may be subsequently placed in a window display or elsewhere, without disturbance of the good adjustment initially given, even though handled by a person with less ability and training. 1 U

Itis a special aim of our invention to present a dress formdevice which maybealso utilized as a hanger, so that garments may be suspended upon the common rack used in stores, and when removed from. the rack for display to a customer, will be held inthe pleasing formtofbest'setloff Further important objects consist in themevision of novel means for securing,folds.or a garment within a sheet material form of the general indicated, and a further novel feature lies in the means for supporting a iorm device in special relation to a hanger element for adjust- Figure 1.

the features and valuesoi thegarment as regards its fashionable appearance and distinctive pattern, etc. y

A further important aim of the invention is to present a form ofthis kind which may be made up from sheet material so that the articlemay be shipped in quantities and stored in quantities without occupying excessive space, and whereby will function in apeculiar mannerto efiect the holding of a garment in its adjusted 'shapeupon the form without the use of rastenings, and in a peculiar relation of folds of'the' garment which fixed thereon ,without rumpling and withoutfmaking the complete display of the garment as aunit excessively: thick of the user.

\ rear of this garment without adjustment of the garment 'ment in the shoulder and neck portionsof a garment after the manner of a conventionalcoat hanger.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention reside in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts involved in the embodiment of the invention, as will begmore readily understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a back view of a garment formembodying our invention and suspended upon the coat hanger device appropriately coordinated therewith. H 3- Figure 2 is an edge viewci the assembly of Figure 3 is an exploded view showingthe front and back portions of the article, at left andlright, respectively, in perspective, with innersides presented toward the observer; a Figure i is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the upper part'of thefront pieceas viewed from the rear. Figure 5 is a side elevation thereof; l t Figure 6 is a front elevational view-Ora 'ga'rmerit engaged upon my display device.

as in Figure 6, to adjust it to a desired shape;

, Figure 8 is a view of the garment showing the relation of the sleeves thereto after suchmani'p ulation as shown in Figured]; Figure 9 is a similar view showing a modified to representfa high waist effect, utilizing the same device as employed in Figure 6, but with a modified adjustment; on the hanger, and also illustrating .theffsecuremfe'nt of the sleevesof'the garment. Figure 10 is a rearviewlof the garment, as mounted upon our device, in Figu'reQ, Figure 11 is a perspective view of a garment with our display form therein, and displaying upon a low stand, as might be. employed at the front of a show window, so that, further,display of erect figures or the like mightbe made in the being unduly'obsoured. N

Figure '12 is a rear elevation of a m diiied'iorm of the device.- I j 1 "engage through -the neck of a toward the central :partoi the assume a suitabl waist ,contounsubstantially as form and arrangegaged garment upon a rack, hook, stand or other support, and in place of the hook any other suitable support engaging Ineans maybe employed, as found expedient, one method shown in Figure 11 involving the omission of any hook. or the like whatever, and the coat hanger itself being rested upon a' bracket arm ll of a stand 68, of wonventional yco'nstruction. Phe hanger in the 'present ins'tance'is illustrated as being formed of --some metal, inrod orbar form, bent so thata "spacing bight 'l 9Eis-formed centrally of the hanger, =the sides 'of the bight extending vertically 'downward'arrd'being spaced apart suitably to garment and hold it open a desirabl degree, the opposite end por- -tions of-the'bar being:then closed laterally in respective directions from the bight and suitably shaped to fitthesho'ulder portions of a garment, asi-l-lustrated in Figure 6.

suspended'fromand vertically adjustable with respect to this hanger, there is'adress form 2.8,

"consistingo'f twocseparat'e pieces, a front piece 2 l "anda backpieceZL made'of sheet material, such as -a good durable heavy two or three ply paper,

' or a stiffer sheet material, if desired, and the 'articl'e-'maybe formed in sheet metal, orone of the synthetic gums or cellulose compositions, or the'l-ikegif desired. "Theiront is slightly wider mn'd longerthanthe'back piece, so that thelatter ma3cbeilaidrclosezagainst theformer with its contours all lying inwardly of the contours of the "imntipiece. "The'lateral'edges of the iront'piece .ore:shaped .zatz'the:up'perpart so that a garment having its front portion drawn snugly therearound will :assume approximately the general nontou'r futhegarment when worn by a person and viewed,--from.a distance in front, while the ,lnwenpartzof theiront part is shaped to represent z-the generalccontourofthe hipsof a person and the =form in-which the iSkiItWiH appear in elevaitionstromethelfront when worn, as shown at .The-edgemortionsdd and as are inclined inwardly article, so as to iillustratedalthongh thislform and shape is not darbitrary andmaybe varied in difiercnt dress Jermain .a .manner appropriate to different. sizes 11f .p,ersons,.as .is -.well understood in the trade.

The length of the article from .top to bottom is substantiallyless than the length of an ensemble which is "to be displayed thereon, so that our -.d1:ess.,form may'jbe adjusted upwardly or downjwardly within the same garment, to give a high .oril'o'w ,waistjlinejeifect, or at intermediate posi- ,,tion .s as required. In consequence, the upper'or Lbpdyportionofjthe forms is adapted to e:.tend

I into ,lthe'jblouse section of the garment inone use,

as shown in 'Fl'glll'csfi to 8, while in another use .itmaybe adjusted to show a high dress effect,

' as inFiguresQ andlO; 'Forthe same reason,-the

skirt portion or lower part 23 is greatly-abbreviated, extending only a short distance below the representation of the hip contour, and being cut off square at its lower end, so that in whatever adjustment it may have in a garment, it will still be some distance above the lower edge of the skirt.

In its present embodiment, the article is illustrated as applied to the display of a one-piece ensemblein .thenat'ure of astreet suit or costume, but it maybe. also used in connection with a twopiece and sleeveless blouse or jacket, with or without skirts integral or detached.

The body portion 21 is formed with a deeply recessed-upper edge 29, the recess being substan- .tially'V-shaped and extending nearly to the waist of the piece, so that the upper portion 23 is furcated. This recess enables the ready manipulation of the supporting device subsequently to be wardly, -7 5 short of 'the'lower edge of'th frontpiece.

feye portion .44, of suitable extent to resilient action desired. Centrally of the helical J "body 29. With-one arm of F .secure the :pieces described.

The back piece 22 is of similar general con- .tounexcept that all of the external dimensions are. smaller than those of the front piece2l, and the recess v29 in its upper part is much deeper than the corresponding, recess 29 of the front piece. .The skirt portion of this back piece stops The zfront-and back pieces 2| and '22 are secured together at'their upper extremities substantially in the relation shown in Figur'es'l and 2, by means .of snapgrommets .30, or-otherwise so that the two' pieces "are secured together, or the two pieces may be detached from each other if desired. 'Theseifasteners are also used to secure two ends -of "branches .3] from a suspension tape 32 at- .tached :at the lowerextremity of the main portion of the tape. The lower end of the same tape 'isprovided with-a series of apertures longitudinallyspaced thereon.

Theupper body:portion' Zl of the front piece, :as wellzas the corresponding partsof the back :piece is given a bowed shape, by means now to e described. Upon theinner faces of each'of thepieoesextending abovethe waist, there are channel pieces 40, made of a flexible material. :Inserted fromabove in the channel pieces of the front piece, there are respective curved spring arms-41 0f a -helical spring device 42, having a second arm 43 of bowed form opposed to the first, the two arms being connected by a spiral effect the .eye portion 440f the spring arms there is an end apiece M which -is secured under that member of the fastener '30 which is secured upon the thespring device engaged in the channel member at one side of the "front piece,:andthe other arm of the same spring engaged in the opposed channel piece of the :backpiece, and .a spring device at the opposite side of the device being similarly engaged in the corresponding channel pieces, the lower waist portion of :the two pieces are pressed toward each .otheryieldingly, and the upper part held forcibly in close relation. The fasteners 30' additionally against relative longitudinal :movementrand hold the upper ends of the two pieces snugly together. The front and back pieces of the form may be separated by releasing the fastenings 3Q, and sliding the back piece ld'ownwardlygso that'the arms of the springare drawn out of the channel pieces-4i! of the back piece. The respective upper end, pieces (ii of the tape are extended irom the fastener 39 upand over respectiveend portions-of the hanger l5, and thence downwardly, the central g ges ii/mime tape stood. "The 'drawing'in of the side portions of the mainend being extendeddownwardly below i 1 N 7 upper body part of the garment between the the crotchor recessed part 290i the'front piece. Here it is secured releasably, for vertical adjust mentof the strap part 34 with respect to. the gar ment[ h anger. The end porti-on' ofthe 'strapfifl is provided witha longitudinal series of apertures 45, and a snap fastener device H is providdyone element or which issecured to the member of the fastening to one "of the apertures 46. Thus, when it is desired to suspend the dress high leve1, the strap'34 is released. from the fastening'dq l and drawn downwardly, se'that the 'endportionsGZ slide upon the'hanger i5, raising v the dressform, and the ffaetene'r til then mien v '34, in'one oi theapertures lt at a higher level;

Byreason oi the action off thefs pring i'llfthe fwaistportions of the front and back piecesserve as a yielding clasp, device to holdffoldsota gar:- mentiengaged over the form but push between the-front andiback pieces will permit separation tof admit portions of a garment, after the manner shown in'l' figure 7. By having the'arm's of the spring flflbowed outwardly, the front piece 2i i is given a fullness at the d r e'ssiportion'28, serving to enhance the effectiveness of the display of agarment upon the article. The waist portion.

ofsuch'a garment is drawn inwardly byth'e 'tucking in of its side portions between the front and "back pieces, where they are held by the clasping acti n of the article, as before mentioned, and as :indicatedin Figure '7;

""In the use'of the article, the hanger devicel'fi is engaged in the upper part of thef garment after fthamann'erof theordinarycoat hanger, and

may be suspended'upon any proper support while the garment is adjustedthereon. After manipu- "lation'o f the tape 34 as previously described to secure theadjustment of the format the proper height within the garment, the'operatorfll' ushes the material atthesides of the garment in between the two pieces-ofthe forms, and the bow ing of the spring arms afford a considerable pieces of the for'm has the effect of causing the iront piece 2! just belowthe crotch 29, while the other is releasably engaged therewithgthe two being constructed so as to receive the male sleeves 43 of the'gar ment to swing inwardly and 'lieneatly beside the garment, as shown in Figures '8, 9 and 10,and the operator may adjust the ends of the sleeves either'behind the garment, or in 1 front of it, according to which side the garment is being displayed toward the front of a show window or the like. Or the sleeves 48 n1ay also beslightly engaged between the form pieces. The

person to whom the garment has been fitted.

'' The form may be quickly removed from a garment due-to the fact that it is not fastened to any part of the'goods of the garment when used as above described, no pins -or other fastenings --being required. Thus, the forms may be used 1 standard or post l8, while the skirt portion of the garment is laid forwardly from the stand [8 upon the floor of the show window or other sur- 'face upon" whichthe stand [8 rests. i In this way the advantage is'gainedof displaying full space between the two pieces, which will'readily I accommodate the hands of the operatoranda considerable portion of the material of the gar- Preferably, the garment is pushedinto of a garment between the sections of the-form,

the hands'are then moved slidingly downwardly, so as to draw the lower portionof thegarment likewise between the front and back of the form.

In initial engagementof the garment on the "hanger after adjustment of the form asto height, the garment will-have the appearance substantially as indicated in Figure 6. After the manipulation of the goods as described'andindicated in Figure 7, the garment willhave substantially the appearance shown inFig'ure 8, where it is drawn neatly into a contour suggestive of the shape of an line or a low waist-line, as will be readily underlength or a garment ensemble, without involving the use "of large space, and without obscuring or concealing other elements of display in the same Window, such as might be involved by a full length erect figure display. i i The article is adapted to various other uses in garment displays, and for the display of various other garments than those described, and may be modified in form to adapt it in use in displays of other'goo'ds as discretion may dictate.

If'desired, thesheet materialof the front and 'back'piece's as described maybe covered with While we have described our invention with great particularity in the best form in which we havethus far perfected it, it will nevertheless be understood that this is purely 'e ei np'lary and 7 that" various changes in construction, arrangement and combination. of parts, substitution of materials and substitution of equivalents may *be'made without departing from the spirit a of the invention; as more definitely defined in the claims hereto'appende d.

f The skirt portion "of the front and back pieces ;may be "formed with transverse scored lines at uniform distances, which may correspond tocertain standard dimensions, of garments, so that the lower portions of the front and back pieces may-be folded or severed in appropriate length to adapt the device to various lengths offgarl men'ts, such as blouses, skirts, sweaters and two piece garments. i

It should be not-ed also that the lower part of the recess 29"is considerablywi'dened, and this together with its greater depth than the recess of the front piece prevents wrinkling of the garment or belt portions thrust between the two pieces, as well as insuring concealment of the back pieces.

As illustrated in 0 Figure 12, the lateral =.w,aist recesses 21' ofthe rear piece may be ,made higher thanthe-correspondingpartsof the ,front piece and also somewhat deeper, the remainder beingas first described. This .hasaspecial value in displaying garments with skirt portions, because when the garment is adjustedon' the device and the side portions of the garment thrust between. the iorm pieces, thevvaist portion at the rear of the garment is drawn upward,,so that the edge of the skirt at the rear; will not show belowthe front lower edge of' the skirt. This is are formed as one U-shaped member the bight portion of which is rectilinear so as to press against theflat back side of the piece 58;, the

upper'ends of the arms terminating in helices ithe extremities of which'are suitablyconnected to the piece 5%). In this instance also, the arms -52.-are given a suitableform to assist in shaping athegarment to be displayed. The piece 50 ;.will

extend-only into the waist ofagarment inthe particular device illustrated, but may have .a skirt-shaping portion added if desired.

In Figure 14 the front-and back pieces.5354 are indicated as die-cut or stamped integrally both in onepiece, fromsheet material, .joined only at their upper ends andfoldedthere into opposed relationand this may be used-asinFig- -.ure 15, as a, shipping form for dresses or jackets,

and for subsequent displayon rack with small expense. The spring devices may beomitted or included in these devices accordingto 'theex- ,pense warranted. This last mentioned device is .shown as suitable for blouses, sweaters, jackets -or the waist portions of dresses, but -may be" amplified as required for moreiextended shaping. In Eigure 16,; the clamping spring ,55.is shown as attached at the-lower part of ,theneck recess 56 in the upper end of a fiat piece 51, which may .correspond to the front piece or the;back piece before described,-but the device in'this instance may-comprise only the front piece,.andthe back piece-omitted, if desired; the goods being held by the spring arms pressing against the'one flat piece shown. 7

Figures 17, 18 and 19 illustrate a moulded piece 58, resembling the bas-reliefof the bust of a person as viewed from the front, flat in the back,

and having attached to the upper backsurface respective endsof a U-shaped wire spring 59, the" lower parts of which are arranged to lie fiat against the fiat surface of the bust piece 53 adjacent the waist portion of the latter, and under tension to clamp goods inserted between the spring and piece 58. In this case the piece ,58 .may, be mounted on a stand 60 of conventional form.

By making theform pieces 2| and 22 of moderately flexible sheet material, when a displayis,

assi ns .made asin Figure 11, the lower part maybe readily bent so as to curve graduallyforward and the lower ,part of the garment and form may lie flat upon the floor. If desired the skirt portion may bemore flexible than the upper or bust portion.

sponding parts of the various forms of the article shown, may be varied as the requirements of use dictate.

We claim: 7 1. YA garment former of the character described .comprising two flat form pieces of flexible material having an upper dress portion and a lower skirt portion with intermediate waist portion, longitudinal channel pieces secured upon the,inner side of the dress portion of each piece, and adjacent each side, and a respective spring memher at each side of the form having bowed arms engaged with the channel pieces ofboth form pieces and engaging the front piece slidably, said spring having a loop portion. extended upwardly, fastenings engaging the upper extremities of the form pieces and interposed loop portion of the spring, vandsupport means engaged therewith.

2. A dress form deviceconsisting' of two flat members having a general contour simulating the ideal form for a garment as worn, and having a width corresponding to that ofthe width of the garmented figure of a person wearing the the two members together consisting of spring elements having contractile arms engaged within respective channels, whereby to press the flat members together at their lower parts.

3. The structure of claim 2, in which-the arms of said spring device engaged with the front piece at least, being-bowed outwardly, whereby to give a fullness at the breast portion of the piece.

4. The structure of claim 2, in which saidsupport means includes a garment shoulder supporting and shaping member, a main tape element extensibly engaged with the format the medial longitudinal axis of the form, and said tape element having branched upper portions slidably engaged over the shoulder shaping portion and extended-downwardly to the dress form and secured thereto, whereby the height of the form may be adjusted with respect to said shoulder shaping portions. H

5. The structure of claim 2, in which said support means includes a shoulder shaping garment hanger, a strap having a main portion attached for longitudinal adjustment to a part of the gar- -ment form, and having upwardly branched-ends extended slidably over said hanger and downwardly and attached to the garment form, for

thepurposes described.

CLARENCE H. ROWLEY. WILLIAM P. W'YAT'L. 

